AAP students Jacqueline Castaneda (Wilmington), Jordan Jones (Wilmington), Krystal Mendez (Dover), and Christian Wills (Wilmington) were among those honored at UD's recent Students of Distinction event, held each year to honor the achievements of students of color.

University of Delaware Associate Professor Yasser Payne, featured speaker at the event, said that the relationship between mentor and mentee can be a big driver of a student’s success. Payne said that message is even more important for students of color in predominantly white universities.

Payne shared his experience as a mentor at UD alongside his mentee, Brooklynn Hitchens, during the ceremony, held on Thursday, April 26, in the Multipurpose Room of Trabant University Center.

Organized by Vice Provost for Diversity Carol Henderson and her staff, the event celebrates the achievements of students of color and their relationship with their mentors.

“No one is an island unto themselves and, thus, this distinction has as much to do with character, resilience and grit — all those qualities one must have to thrive on a predominately white campus where one's patience is tested daily,” Henderson said.

During her opening remarks, Henderson said the GPA requirement to nominate a student for the award has ended. Henderson said that is why the role of mentors is so important, as mentors can identify the exceptional students that are impacting their communities, even if they do not have a perfect GPA.

“I’m so thrilled that we are celebrating mentoring because it does matter,” Morgan said.

Additionally, Morgan touched on UD’s continued push for diversity. While there is still a long road ahead, she encouraged the audience to never give up on this mission.

“Our future successes, personally and collectively, on this campus and throughout the world depend on the steadfast commitment to diversity,” Morgan said. “We have to become a society that reflects who all of us are together.”

The ceremony included a spoken word performance by Enoch the Poet; musical prelude by Samson Alexander, Ryan Hubert and Anthony Moore; and dinner for the selected students and their mentors. The night concluded with the keynote by Payne and Hitchens.

The duo met eight years ago and continue to work together on Payne’s Street Participatory Action Research (Street PAR). They outlined their time together and how their mentor/mentee relationship has grown over the years in a call-and-response style presentation. Hitchens highlighted many of the lessons and takeaways she has learned since working with Payne and being part of the research group. She spoke particularly about the ongoing struggle they fight for racial justice.

“Achieving racial justice is a life’s work and the point that you said about it not being easy is well taken,” Hitchens said. “It's a road less traveled.”

Payne crafted his responses and perspective into letters addressed to Hitchens. He said he'd never had a mentor and found this experience really pushed him to understand what it means to be invested in another person’s success. He told the audience neither role is easy.

“Helping people is time consuming. It’s hard work,” Payne said. “Oftentimes helping people doesn’t come with a whole bunch of rewards and a predominately white academy usually doesn't necessarily value helping people — not at least in the way that you and I are defining it. But once again you are still expected to make it happen, figure it out and pay it forward.”

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2018 Students of Distinction

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​Yasser Payne speaks at the 2018 Students of Distinction dinner. Photo: Kevin Quinlan

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College of Agriculture and Natural Resources: Monique Robinson, Ericka Veliz